Execution delayed while lawmakers work to fix system

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida's high court has delayed the execution of a convicted killer while lawmakers determine how to change the state's death penalty sentencing system to comply with a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that found it unconstitutional.

The Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the March 17 execution of Mark Asay, a Jacksonville man sentenced to death in 1987 for murdering two men.

Asay's is the second scheduled execution to be halted since the January ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The U.S. Supreme Court found that Florida's method of sentencing people to death is flawed because it allows judges to reach a different conclusion than juries.

Florida legislators are working on a new death penalty law that would require at least 10 out of 12 jurors to recommend execution.